SEPT. 11 PROBE Defense in air to be focus

NORAD and FAA officials say their agencies have changed since the attacks.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The nation's law enforcement and intelligence agencies did not discover the plot. Airport security screeners did not find the hijackers' weapons.
But could military jet fighters, the final line of defense, have stopped or lessened the destruction Sept. 11, 2001, by shooting down airliners aimed at some of the nation's best-known buildings?
On Thursday, the Sept. 11 commission will end its series of public hearings by taking up that question. They will examine the performance on that day of the Federal Aviation Administration, which manages the nation's air traffic; and NORAD, the North American Aerospace Defense Command, which defends U.S. airspace.
Survivor's view
Kristen Breitweiser of Monmouth, N.J., whose husband, Ronald, died in the World Trade Center, said a lack of foresight on the part of those agencies was compounded by officials' mistakes on the morning of Sept. 11.
"I think we were ill-prepared, and I think people showed poor judgment," Breitweiser said. The plane that crashed into the Pentagon, in particular, could have been stopped, she contends.
Both NORAD and FAA officials respond to the criticism by describing how they've changed since Sept. 11. They have established chains of communication. Generals have been given authority to order the fighter pilots to shoot down hijacked aircraft. The number of warplanes on alert has been increased, and fighters are put on patrol over U.S. cities and events deemed possible terrorist targets.
When the Sept. 11 terrorists struck, the United States and Canada were defended by 20 fighter aircraft, arrayed in pairs in 10 locations, said Lt. Col. Roberto Garza, a NORAD spokesman. They were kept armed and fueled, with pilots nearby, ready to take off in less than 15 minutes.
The fighter defenses were a remnant of the Cold War, when North America worried more about intercepting Soviet bombers attacking from across the Arctic Circle. Of those pairs, six were on the East Coast, a NORAD spokesman said: two in Massachusetts, two in Virginia and two in Florida. The others were in Canada, Alaska, the West Coast and Texas.
But their focus was directed outward, toward threats that might approach American coastlines. The Florida fighters, for example, had their eyes on Cuba, which maintains an air force of MiG fighters.